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As we fall asleep. In our dreams. We fear losing those we love. We wonder who will care for us when we are old and infirm. Will we look back on our lives with regret?

Even when life feels glorious, knowing that it could all change haunts us. We live as if on a suspension bridge. The shaking that follows each footstep reminds us that getting to the other side is not a certainty.

That is why Rabbi Nachman of Breslav, the Hasidic master, said, “The whole world is a very narrow bridge. The key is not to be afraid.”

To overcome their innermost fears, Rabbi Nachman urged his followers to seek intimate closeness to God. “Speak to God as if He is next to you,” he told them. When we feel God’s closeness, we sense that our lives are part of a wondrous tapestry. We know we matter. If we can find elements in Jewish life—prayer, music, silence, ritual, study—that draw us closer to feeling the Divine, then even the rickety bridge cannot frighten us. We can cross the chasm with confidence; we can cast fear aside.

Of course, Rabbi Nachman knew we cannot banish fear entirely. We will never fully escape the feeling that life is a narrow, shaking bridge. Yet even knowing that is an accomplishment. Acknowledging the bridge and embracing fear will lead us to resoluteness, to making our lives matter. That, Rabbi Nachman believed, is precisely what being Jewish is about.

Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President and Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in

Jerusalem. He won the National Jewish Book Award for Saving Israel, and The Promise of Israel was

named by Jewish Ideas Daily as one of the “best Jewish books of 2012.” Commentary Magazine has called

Rabbi Nachman of Breslav, the great-grandson of the founder of Hasidism, was a charismatic and controversial Hasidic master in Ukraine. In the town of Breslav, his leading disciple, Rabbi Natan Sternhartz, transcribed Rabbi Nachman’s teachings. Rabbi Nachman was also a master storyteller, weaving mystical secrets into his fanciful tales. At the end of his life, Rabbi Nachman moved to Uman, where he died and was buried. His tomb continues to be a pilgrimage site for tens of thousands of followers. Rabbi Nachman did not appoint a successor.

Michael Morgenstern is an illustrator for many of the leading magazines and book publishers in the United States and around the globe. Lürzer’s Archive selected Morgenstern as one of the “200 Best Illustrators Worldwide” and one of the “200 Best Digital Artists Worldwide.” He has been recognized by Print, American Illustration, Spectrum, and Folio. His prestigious client list includes The Economist, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Random House, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, Adobe, The Wall Street Journal, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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"The whole world is a very narrow bridge. The key is not to be afraid."Rabbi Nachman of Breslav

The world is a very, very narrow bridge. The main thing is not to be afraid! Faith keeps us sure-footed on this narrow bridge of life, enabling us to face its challenges and cross over safely to the other side.